Memories of the Heart
by AuroraStarPhoenix
Summary: Picking himself up, the little boy clambered over the side of his playpen eager to meet his new present, and froze… It seems that his uncle didn’t get him a pet after all... GaaraxHinata. A whatif friendship oneshot, maybe...I don't know anymore...


Memories of the Heart.

-Author pounds on the login door of Fanfiction-

LET ME IN!!!!!! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR OVER AN HOUR AND I NEED TO UPLOAD THIS THING NOW!!!

Alert: login/review features will be down on Sunday June 17th, 2AM US PST to approximately 2:30AM US PST for essential upgrades. The upgrade session is estimated to last only 30 minutes.

AuroraStarPhoenix: -.-" IT'S NOT JUNE, IT'S AUGUST!!!! -Fanfiction opens- Whew! Finally! Thank you! Okay, Hoshiakari, give the disclaimer. A big thank you to my really cool beta-readers for having to find all of my mistakes you guys are the best! -glomps beta-readers-

Hoshiakari: What why!?! I'm not even in this story!!! By the way aren't you suppose to be working on mine, what are you doing?

AuroraStarPhoenix: -tries to hush the little brat- Shhh!!! Do you want the reviewers to find me here?

Hoshiakari: -.-" It's not that hard, over half of them have you on Author Alert. There they are right now.

-sees a mob of "So Ummm….Who's the Father" fans-

AuroraStarPhoenix: Okay, uhhh, I think I better leave now. Hoshiakari, don't forget the side notes too now! Remember, I was never here! –author runs away-

Hoshiakari: Wait! What side notes?!

AuroraStarPhoenix: The ones about the plants and stuff!!!

Hoshiakari: O.O" Okay since Aurora's gone right now. I guess I'm on my own. Lets see…oh right, the only flowers that really exist are the roses and the Silverswords. Silverswords are found on the slopes of Haleakala on the island of Maui, you can google it if you want. The other flowers are just made up and if they really do exist, then um…that's good too.

-pulls out notecards-

Oh, and this story takes place a little before Yashamaru tries to kill Gaara-jisan and a coupla months before kaasan's mother dies. I think that's all the important stuff…

-catches a balled up piece of paper-

The disclaimer right, AuroraStarPhoenix owns nothing in this story; they all belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Well except the poem, that's Aurora's. -.-" Geeze it's not as if anyone wants that poem anyway. All right, other than that read and review yadda yadda. That's all. I have to go hunt down Aurora now, Ja ne!

* * *

"normal conversation" 

'_thoughts'_

_Voices of the past_

* * *

Yashamaru was not looking forward to the meeting with the Hokage at that moment. Crossing the desert at full speed to reach Konohagakure by daybreak was a strenuous ordeal and the only thing that kept him going was the thought of having to cross the scorching desert at noon. Slowing his pace to a leisurely walk, the blond ANBU glanced over his right shoulder to check on his youngest nephew. 

"Gaara, daijoubu?" Bright aquamarine eyes lined with black shined from under a short cap of unruly red hair. The three year old smiled up at his uncle as he was set down.

"Hai! Yashamaru!" Slightly panting, the little boy was filled with awe and pride as he watched his uncle from the corner of his eye. His uncle Yashamaru was a shinobi, and not just any shinobi, an ANBU, one of the best in the village. Enviously he eyed his uncle's tan flak vest and Suna headband. _'One day I'll be a shinobi too just like jisan!'_

For now however, the toddler was ecstatic that his uncle had chose him and not his older siblings to accompany him on this mission. Gaara had never left his village before; normally his uncle would just leave him with either Temari or Kankuro while he took the other on the mission. However, this time they were both sick and no one else was willing to go near the village curse much less take care of him. Therefore, it was decided to allow Gaara to join the Kazekage's brother-in-law.

Pale sparkling washed-out green eyes took in the new scenery. "Yashamaru?"

"Hai Gaara?"

Continuing to smile, the little boy asked the most classic of all questions. "Are we there yet?"

"Hai," Smiling softly, the young sand-nin ruffled his nephew's hair. "Now you remember your promise to behave."

Nodding, Gaara obediently walked alongside his caretaker. The two soon arrive at a large wooden gate.

"State your business"

"Sabaku no Yashamaru and Gaara of Sunagakure." Yashamaru offered a small tan scroll for verification. "We have an appointment with the Hokage concerning the renewal of the treaty."

"Hai, the Hokage is expecting you. Please enjoy your stay in our village."

Silently the two walked through the cool empty streets. Yashamaru felt a slight tug and looked down questioningly.

"Yashamaru? Where is everyone?"

"Well, today is the first day of the New Year everyone is at home cleaning."

"Oh, right" The thought of being unable to meet other children his age, caused the boy's cheery expression to slightly dim.

"Gaara?"

He looked up to see his jisan's concerned eyes. Not wanting to worry his uncle, the little redhead pushed away his depressing thoughts and summoned his brightest smile. "It's nothing."

The two stopped near the park and the taller one led the child to the sandbox. Bracing his hands on his legs, Yashamaru bent over to look his nephew in the eyes. "Now you stay here and be good okay Gaara? I'll be back as soon as my meeting is over. Whatever you do, do not stray far from this sandbox alright?"

Gaara pouted sadly before quickly putting on his best begging smile" "Demo, Yashamaru can't I go and help you?"

Violet eyes crinkled as the ANBU stood back up and chucked his nephew's chin. "Ne, you wouldn't want to listen to two old men haggle. No, just stay here and wait for my return okay?"

The little boy dug a toe into the ground as he tried to find another excuse to not be left behind. Yashamaru smiled indulgently at the cute little scene before him. "If you promise to behave, I have a present for you."

"A present?! With a bow?!"

Yashamaru exasperatedly watched as his nephew's unhappiness vanished. "Uh huh. Now do you promise to behave?"

"Hai Yashamaru!" Satisfied Yashamaru ruffled Gaara's wind blown hair before turning to leave. "A-ano…Yashamaru?"

The jounin turned back for another round of his nephew's attempts at persuasion. "What color will the bow be?" The poor boy really didn't want his uncle to leave him behind and was planning to prolong the farewell as much as possible.

Not wanting to be late for his meeting, Yashamaru let his nephew decide. "Well, what color would you like?"

"A-ano, how about purple?"

"Purple?"

"Hai, just like Yashamaru's eyes!"

"I may not get one the exact same color but I'll try." "Now behave, I'll see you when I'm done."

"Ja Yashamaru! Ganbatte!" "Gaara waved goodbye and watched as his uncle disappear down the street. After seeing, the light blond head of his uncle turn the corner, the little boy climbed into the large sandbox to await his uncle's return.

* * *

Three hours later… 

A redheaded child lay with his back in the sand bored out of his mind.

'That must be one long meeting …' The poor little boy was so bored with his little plot of sand and desperately wanted to explore the vibrant green landscape that surrounded him. Unfortunately, he remembered his promise not to stray too far from the sandbox. "Next time I'm crossing my fingers."

Seeing as he was trapped in one area, Gaara began taking in the surrounding scenery. 'Green, green, green, green, green…' Gaara soon wondered if the people here were green as well. (A/N: We're not in the Wizard of Oz!!!)

"…green, green, green…not green, green, green…wait not green!" Gaara strained his little eyes to see a bright patch of color in the distance. The bright profusion of colors provided a stark contrast to the monotonous green surrounding it. Climbing out of the sandbox, the red head was about to investigate the scene when he once again recalled his promise. Dejected, he climbed back into his lonely sandbox.

"Stupid sand" Well, desperate times called for desperate measures, and thus the cogs in his tiny little head began working. The little boy was replaying the parting scene in his mind when it hit him; Yashamaru only said that he couldn't _leave_ the sandbox. This would be the perfect time to try out his new third eye no jutsu and do some exploring. Happily, Gaara completed his jutsu and sent it to explore the patch of color. It took a while since the sand was harder to control the further away it was, and it took all of his concentration just to keep the third eye intact.

However, his persistence soon paid off as he drew closer to his goal. Once there, he took in the vibrant blossoms. It was as if a rajah had carelessly strewn a treasury of precious gems onto a bed of green velvet. Unable to resist the allures of such vividness, Gaara allowed his eye to explore further. A sudden movement caught his eye; focusing, Gaara gasped as he saw a large lavender bow bobbing through the flora. _'A bow! Could it be…? Yashamaru's present?!'_ The bow was not the exact shade of purple of his uncle's eyes, but it was pretty close.

Curious, he allowed his third eye to follow the bobbing bow through the tall plants. Judging by the way it was randomly wandering about, his present was alive. _'I wonder what it's doing here…maybe Yashamaru wanted me to find it…I hope it's a bunny!'_

Gaara excitedly released his jutsu and quickly began to run over when he was reminded yet again of his oath. Flopping himself down upon the sand, the Kazekage's youngest son pondered on his new dilemma. Once again, the wheels in his head began churning and it wasn't long before another idea came to him. If he couldn't leave the sandbox, then he would just have to take it with him! Grabbing the edge of the box, Gaara made sure that he was facing in the right direction. Then closing his eyes, he focused his charka and lifted the sandbox into the air. Getting a good grip, and confident in his ability, he gleefully shot towards his present. (A/N: Yay!!! Flying sandbox!!! XD)

* * *

Oblivious to her surroundings, the young heiress of Konoha's prestigious Hyuuga clan joyfully weaved her harvested flowers into a crown. Her older cousin, who preferred training to babysitting and considered her an annoyance, had dropped off the little girl earlier. He had also made her promise that she would stay right there and wait for him to come back. Her Neji-niisan had been different lately ever since Hizashi-jisan had gone away. The caring and always smiling cousin that she knew was now a cold and distant person. Little Hinata would do anything to cheer up him up and bring back her happy nii-san. 

She didn't mind staying here anyway, the large patch of tall flowers was more than enough to keep her happy and now she was in the middle of making a flower crown for her favorite nii-san. These were sure to make him happy again. It had taken a couple of hours as she made sure to pick only the brightest yellow star-shaped flowers with the pretty blue centers, but now she had a nice little pile in her lap. Humming softly, the little girl was about to put the next flower on the chain when she heard a loud thump. Pale lavender eyes peeped out from the vibrant blossoms to see puffs of dust settling around a large sandbox. Carefully setting aside her flowers, she hid herself in the flowers and cautiously began to crawl over to the box.

* * *

Gaara patted the dust off his shirt while shaking the sand out of his hair. _'Need to work on landing…'_

Picking himself up, the little boy clambered over the side of his playpen eager to meet his new present, and froze. There on the ground before him was girl about his age paused in mid crawl. Gaara's eyes took in the child's short cap of indigo hair and pale pink kimono hemmed with curling red flames. However, what caught Gaara's eyes was the large lavender bow on her back. It seems that his uncle didn't get him a pet after all. _'Yashamaru got me a girl?'_

The two stared at one another in shock. The little boy blushed as he looked at the doll-like child before him. He'd never seen eyes like that before, they remind him of those pretty purple stones he once saw in a shop. _'What did Yashamaru said they were again…? Jade?'_

Pupil-less eyes took in the strange-looking boy before them. Hesitantly, the little girl began to carefully back into the flowers again. She did not recognize him from anywhere, and remembering the bad man who had tried to take her away a few months ago made her even more cautious. The boy standing in front of her didn't look big and mean, but it could be another trick. Today was the first day of the year and everyone was supposed to be at home cleaning. The man could be hiding somewhere and using him as bait.

"D-don't go!" Seeing her silently disappearing into the plants, Gaara panicked. He had just met her and she was leaving again. The other people in the village would always hide or flee in terror whenever they saw him. He never understood why. However, this one didn't run away screaming or cowered in fear. Instead, she had only looked upon him with the caution and wariness one would present to a stranger; and this gave him a tiny glimmer of hope. She was not afraid of him, not really. His spirits rose at the thought that maybe there is such a person who would be his friend. Unfortunately, she was currently disappearing into the flower patch again. Desperately he tried to call her back. "Please, I…I just want to play."

The only thing that kept the young Hyuuga heiress from responding to the plea was her fear. However, the boy's tone revealed his loneliness and made her feel a bit guilty for her rudeness. She carefully scanned the area for anyone else, and, seeing that the boy was indeed alone, she slowly crawled out from behind the large flowers. It couldn't hurt to just say hi.

Seeing the jade-like eyes reappearing, he knelt down. Then trying to be as harmless as he could, he brought up his brightest smile and stuck out his hand. "Ohaiyou gozaimasu!"

Hesitantly offering her own hand, she began to peruse the newcomer. He had the reddest hair she had ever seen, just like the pretty roses in her kaasan's garden. "O-ohaiyou gozaimasu." Hinata found her own eyes drawn to the boy's shiny pale green eyes as he shook her hand and smiled at her. _'Just like kaasan's special Silverswords!' _

A strange feeling began to bloom in the little jinchuuriki's chest as he held her chubby little hand. _'Her hands are so soft!'_ Unable to control himself, he hugged her.

"Eeeeeep!" Hinata couldn't help but squeal as she was squeezed so suddenly.

Hearing his new friend squeak, Gaara looked down and saw that she had turned a bright red color. Experimentally, he gave her another light squeeze.

Unused to such physical displays of affection, the now red-faced girl made another outburst. "Eeeep!"

It seemed that the Kazekage's son had just found a new squeaky toy. Giggling he hugged her to him and nuzzled her soft hair. "You're the best present ever!" (A/N: O.O")

'_Huh?_' Too shocked to move, the little heiress could only remain frozen as he continued to hug her. He was a strange person, calling her his present. Maybe it was different where he came from.

"My name's Gaara! Sabaku no Gaara! What's yours?" Releasing her a bit, he looked down at her face as he introduced himself.

"H-Hinata, I-I'm H-Hyuuga Hinata." Seeing his eager to please face, she hesitantly wrapped her arms around her new friend. Her Niisan had stopped hugging her ever since her jisan disappeared, and her father was never much for physical contact. It felt nice to hug someone.

The two hugged each other for a few more moments before the indigo-haired child began to squirm out of the embrace. Placing a bit of distance between them, she began to twiddle her fingers unsure of what to do next.

"What's that?"

Surprised, Hinata looked up to see her new friend gesturing behind her. Turning around she saw her flower patch. "Oh…f-flow'rs"

"flow'rs?" Having lived in the desert for all of his short life, Gaara had never seen such beautiful plants. He wondered if a rainbow had shattered and fallen to earth, just to create wrapping paper for his present.

"Uh-huh!"

He looked back at her. "What do you do with them?"

"Y-you make things. L-like this!" Excitedly, she dashed back into the flowers to retrieve her half-finished project.

Curious, Gaara followed her, pushing aside some of the foliage to find his new friend. "Hinata?" Seeing her return, he took a step back as she reemerged from the plants.

Gaara looked at the weird string of flowers in her hand. They didn't look strong enough to be rope. He watched as she took another yellow blossom and looped it to the end of her string. "What's it sup'ose to be?"

"A f-flow'r crown!" Tying the two ends together, she held it out to him.

"What do you do with it?"

"Y-you wear it! Like this!" With that, quicker than Gaara's ever-vigilant sand, she slammed it on his head.

The poor little boy didn't know what hit him. Recovering from his stupor, the little boy peered up to see what she had just attacked him with. Reaching up on his head, Gaara carefully removed his present and looked it over carefully. He cautiously felt and sniffed the soft petals. It didn't have any scent but it sure felt nice, and other than Yashamaru, no one had ever given him a present before. Hugging the gift, he gave her his brightest smile. "D-doomo! Doomo arigatou gozaimasu!"

Blushing, Hinata basked in his praise and carefully took the flowers to place them back on his head. Adjusting them to her liking, she took a step back nervously and played with her fingers. "Y-you have to put them in a book later."

Gaara brought his hands up to feel his crown. "A book? Why?"

"A-ano, k-kaasan said that you hafta press them to keep them pretty."

"Okay, I will!" Happily, the little redhead couldn't help himself and hugged her once more. (A/N: Oh come on, like you can resist? She's just so huggable! XD)

"Eeeep!"

Giggling, he held her out at arms length. "Wanna play with me in the sandbox?"

"Uh huh!" Hinata took his hand and the two walked over to the sandbox where Gaara quickly scrambled over the low wall. Turning around he saw that his new friend was have a little trouble; kimonos were not made for easy movement. Making a note to get her pants later, he wrapped his arms around her and tugged her in.

"Oomph" Luckily, the sand cushioned their fall. However, it didn't change the fact that his new friend was not as light as she looked. Gently nudging her aside, the little redhead caught his second wind. _'She's cute, but did she have to be so heavy?'_

"Come on, let's play!" Happily, Gaara began to create a pile of sand.

"…" Hinata's eyes widened as she saw sand suddenly swirling towards him. "Gaara?"

Sand fell as their owner looked over at the little girl. "Huh?"

Seeing her look at the formerly moving sand, he relaxed. "Oh, it's okay Hinata, I can control sand, see?"

Hinata delightfully watched him twirl the sand in the air and create a little tornado on his palm. Inspiration hit Gaara as he allowed the sand to tumble from his hand. The little redhead lifted his arms, and formed a sheer veil of sand. The Gaara sand show was about to start.

* * *

"Have some sake." The third Hokage offered invitingly. Surrounded by the two council members, he poured a small cup and slid it over to the ambassador from Suna. 

The negotiations have gone well so far, and the two would soon have a new treaty promoting peace between their villages.

* * *

As bright as he was, Gaara eventually ran out of ideas and sadly had to end the show. However, pride wouldn't just let him end it just any old way. Summoning a ball of sand, he let it hover above the cap of indigo hair and fisted his hand. Carefully shielding her eyes, Hinata held out her hands in awe as she marveled that the softness of the sparkling sand as it rained down on her creating a sea of stardust. 

"Suuugoiii!" Hinata gasped as the sand piled on her head. As each grain of sand touch her hair, they quickly moved to form a ring... almost as if making a crown… "Uh oh!"

"Nani, Hinata?" Gaara watched as his friend's cheerful expression turned to horror as she spun around and frantically tried to climb over the wall. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he quickly pulled her back before she could fall on her head. "Hinata! Matte!"

"Gomenasai, Gaara. I forgot! My flow'rs! I have to make a crown for Neji-niisan!"

"Niisan?"

"Hai! So I can cheer him up!" At her friend's confused gaze, the little girl continued sadly, "Niisan used to play with me all the time, but now he's been sad since Hizashi-jisan went away."

Gaara couldn't believe his ears. For two long years, he had wanted someone his own age to play with, and now in less than a day, he had a chance to play with two people. Gaara nervously wondered if this Neji-niisan would play with him too. Shyly looking at the ground, he unconsciously tapped the tips of his index fingers together. "Ano… Hinata, d-do you think he'll play with me too?"

The young Hyuuga couldn't hold back a giggle at her friend's cute gesture. She was positive that her cousin would be happy to meet her new friend. "Uh huh! But I hafta cheer him up first!"

"Hai!" Not wanting to have to carry her again, Gaara summoned a bit of sand. "Come on"

The two children made sure to only select the flowers that made it past inspection. Having gathered more flowers, the two went back into the sand box, and under the guidance of his new friend, Gaara learned how to make his first flower crown. The sun soon rose high into the air as the two diligently added blossom after blossom and the young redhead's sand instinctively rose up to provide a cool shade. Finishing their gift, the two children placed it aside and continued to amuse themselves with other little games.

* * *

Yashamaru looked up as one of the Konoha jounin nervously interrupted their meeting. 

"Hokage-sama, ah, we have a slight problem…" The rest of the conversation became inaudible as the jounin bent down to whisper the rest of his report.

Dread filled the ambassador. It must have been important for the man to dare to interrupt the Hokage during diplomatic meetings. He hoped that it wasn't Gaara. With the state of their village these days, they couldn't risk alienating their most powerful ally. The blonde man strained his ears to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"….Naruto… Hokage monument…"

The blonde Suna-nin watched as the Hokage nodded and told the jounin to keep a hold of the child for a while. Yashamaru momentarily wondered who this 'Naruto' was and made a note to keep Gaara far away from him. The child was already enough trouble the way he was.

'_-sighs- at least it's not Gaara.'_ So far, the negotiations for the new treaty were coming along smoothly and he hoped that this run of good luck would last. _'Gaara…please don't do anything stupid…'_

* * *

Gaara looked up from his work to see his friend sleeping peacefully across from him under the shelter of sand clutching the ring of yellow flowers. From here, she looked just like one of his neechan's special Hinamatsuri dolls. The only difference was that Temari always kept hers in a glass case and never allowed him to touch them. Careful not to wake her, he crawled over silently and lightly touched her hair. Seeing that she didn't wake, he continued to absentmindedly run his fingers through short strands of indigo and mentally thanked his jisan for the greatest present ever. (A/N: uhhhh…kid…o.o" she's not…nvm.) 

Looking at the unfinished sand flower in his other hand, he proceeded to add another petal, paying close attention to the details on one of the flowers leftover from their project. In their excitement, the two children had gather more than enough of the bright blossoms, and now a nice little pile was currently occupying a corner of the sandbox. After seeing his new present nod off sleepily, Gaara had sifted through the flowers for the one that would serve as the model for his present. A few more petals and his hair ornament would be complete.

* * *

Tired but relieved, Yashamaru made his way through the quiet town to the park. So far, there hadn't been any news of a rampaging 4 year old yet and the treaty between their two villages was renewed for another 10 years. Clutching a teddy bear under his arm, he quickly went to retrieve his nephew hoping that the good fortune will continue to last. Taking a deep breath, he inhaled the cool crisp evening air and opened his eyes expecting to see a little mop of red hair running towards him. 

"Gaara?" Yashamaru sweat dropped profusely as he paused for a second before dashing to the sandbox. Well, at least to the spot where the sandbox used to be. Unconsciously squeezing the bear, he searched the area for his missing nephew. _'Kami! Who knows what would happen if anyone got him mad!'_ "Gaara!"

"Yashamaru!"

The blonde sand-nin turned around to see a sandbox flying towards him. His jaw dropped wide open; the frozen Yashamaru watched as his nephew landed the ride and ran towards him.

"Gaara…, what are you wearing?" The Suna-nin couldn't believe it, the little boy whose very name struck terror in the hearts of the people of the village, the vessel of the psychotic Shukaku, had a ring of bright yellow flowers in his hair. Yashamaru had always known that his nephew was a bit mentally unstable due to the ichibi living within him and that he would eventually become insane, but he didn't think that it would happen today.

The little boy proudly reached up and adjusted his crown. "It's a flow'r crown, Hinata gave it to me!"

"Hinata?"

Confused, Gaara looked at his uncle. Shouldn't his uncle know the present's name? _'Maybe he was in a rush.'_ "Hai, she's very nice. She even taught me how to make one!"

The blonde man hadn't expected the boy to make a friend so quickly. It did not matter now, their mission was over and it was time to return to Suna. "That's nice, now let's go home ne?"

"Hai!" The little redhead headed back to the sandbox.

"Gaara? Where are you going?"

"To go get Hinata so we can go home!" Remembering his manners, he ran back to his uncle and bowed respectfully. "Doomo arigatoo gozaimasu, Yashamaru, she's the greatest present ever!"

A speechless Yashamaru remain frozen while little arms wrapped themselves around his legs. "I promise to take good care of her!" (A/N: SHE'S NOT A PET!!!)

Yashamaru paused. _'But I still haven't given him the bear yet…'_ Bewildered, he checked his left hand and sure enough, the bear was still there. _'…__wait…he's not thinking… he didn't…'_ "Gaara…? Is-is Hinata still here?"

The little boy happily nodded his head, he couldn't wait to go home and show off his new friend. "Mm, she's still sleeping though." Grabbing his uncle's hand, he led him to the sandbox.

"Is that so?" The jounin could feel a headache coming as he was dragged across the grass. He was sure that it would be safe to leave the jinchuuriki alone this time since it was expected that everyone was at home cleaning. Apparently he was wrong.

The two looked in on the curled up little girl. Yashamaru's eyes widened with comprehension as he examined the child's clothing. _'He did.' _ It was no wonder his little nephew thought her to be his present. Her lavender obi did resemble a large bow and it was the same color as promised if not the exact shade.

"Yashamaru, kawaii desu ne…" The blonde jounin had to agree, watching the boy reach down to pet the child's hair, the kid was cute.

Yashamaru rubbed his aching head as he envisioned himself explaining to the Kazekage how his youngest son was under arrest in Konoha for theft, defacement of property, and kidnapping. The sandbox could be easily returned. Although it would be a bit more difficult, explaining to the Hokage how their flowers patch now had a bald spot. He looked wryly at the pile of partially wilted flowers. _'What'd they do? Dig up the entire flowerbed?' _

The kidnapping charges will require a bit more diplomacy…Oh well; at least he could leave manslaughter out of the list... The sand-nin froze as that thought crossed his mind. _'Wait, if she is with Gaara, then where are her caretakers?'_

Cringing inwardly, Yashamaru silently prayed to any merciful deity that happened to be listening at that moment for every citizen in Konoha to be alive and healthy. Kneeling down to meet his nephew's eyes, he asked the dreaded question. "Ano…Gaara… was there anyone else around when you met Hinata-chan?"

"Iie." Gaara shook his head emphatically and worry clouded his pale green eyes. His uncle's strangeness was starting to worry him. Maybe something happened at his uncle's meeting and it was now distracting him. "Yashamaru, Daijoubu?"

"Ah…hai, daijoubu." No manslaughter, but how was he going to explain to his nephew that they couldn't take the child with them? The Kazekage's brother-in-law continued to gaze upon the doll-like child. Judging by the way the girl was alone when Gaara found her; she could either be lost or abandoned. His eyes softened sadly at the thought of the latter. It was not unheard of for parents to not love their children. Gaara was an excellent example of this. However, this also made their work much easier if it was true. The blonde Suna-nin was sure that it would not be much trouble to ask the Hokage if they could adopt the child. Suna could always use another fighter. Unfortunately, they had to confirm if she was really an orphan or not.

A tug on his sleeve momentarily distracted him from his train of thoughts. He looked down to see his nephew's happy smile. About to clear up his nephews little misunderstanding; the jounin was interrupted by a tiny muffled whimper. The two looked over to see a gradually rising Hinata.

Giving a tiny yawn, she sleepily rubbed her eyes and looked for her friend. "Gaara?" Seeing the tall blonde man, she quickly woke up ready to run.

"Hinata! You're up!" Arms wrapped themselves around the frightened little girl. Seeing her expression, Gaara quickly reassured her. "It's okay! This is Yashamaru-jisan, but he says to just call him Yashamaru cause –jisan makes him feel old."

Said jisan was currently staring at his youngest nephew's partner in crime and planning his last will and testament. _'Neesan, I have a feeling that we will be meeting soon…'_ There was no mistaking that pair of pupil-less lavender eyes; she was a Hyuuga. The jounin felt like breaking down and bawling like a baby. The jinchuuriki wasn't trying to take home just any little girl. No, he just _had_ to go and pick one from one of the most prestigious and powerful clans of Konoha. And if that wasn't bad enough, she was, as indicated by her bare forehead, a main branch member. With the way his luck was, the blonde man half expected a few furious Hyuuga guards to suddenly appear and jyuuken him for daring to abduct one of their children. _'And I just renewed the treaty too…'_

There was no way he was going to jeopardize the treaty. They had to leave now, hopefully before her raging relatives arrived. "Gaara, we have to leave now."

"Hai." Gaara turned to his partner in crime. "Come on Hinata, let's go home!"

Dark amethyst eyes wildly searched the area for teams of Konoha ANBU ready to drag them off to prison. "A-ano, Gaa-"

"Okay!" She hadn't expected to take them home with her, but that was fine too. It would be nice if Gaara could stay with her and his uncle seemed like a nice person, even if he acted a bit strange and twitched a lot. (A/N: oookaaay…how the…nvm. -.-" So, who's going to whose home?)

That ache in his head was returning. _'Can things get any worse?_' From the looks of his face, Gaara was set on taking his new friend home with him. The only thing to do now was to reason with the girl. She was a Hyuuga; she would understand the situation. He hoped. Gently taking a firm hold of her shoulders, he opened his mouth only to be forced to jump away.

"Ojisan!"

"Otou-sama!"

'_Oh crud.'_

Yashamaru quickly blocked an open palm to the heart and took a quick glance at the attacker's face before blocking another fist to the heart. Apparently, things could get worse. Looks like Hinata wasn't just any main branch member, she was the daughter of the clan head.

"Gaara! Don't do anything, just stay with Hinata!" Unfortunately, that was the wrong thing to say for the Hyuuga became even more enraged, if that was possible. It was difficult to tell from that emotionless face. The increase in speed of his attacks was a good clue though.

"H-Hyuuga-sama, th-this is all a misunderstanding." Unable to fight back, the blonde-nin began trying to reason with the Hyuuga clan leader. The man was currently emitting an aura that could only be described as cold fury and he could no longer feel his left arm. It was all he could do to keep out of arms reach.

Trying to bring some feeling back in his arms, the Suna-nin tripped and went sprawling. He looked up to see Hyuuga Hiashi's hand flying towards him and prepared himself to meet his neechan.

The final blow never came. Surprised, he looked up to see a cane protecting him.

"Hiashi-san, you need to stop being so impulsive." The doomed man looked up to see his savior's warm smile. "We wouldn't want a repeat of last time now would we?"

"Sandaime-sama." Stepping back, the older Hyuuga composed himself and bow respectfully to the village leader.

Chuckling, the wizened old man looked down at the ambassador from Suna before giving him a hand up. "Konbanwa Yashamaru-san. Now what seems to be the trouble here? You're both scaring the children."

The two men looked over at the two huddling children. Tendrils of sand hovered in the air while the red-haired child of Suna had his arms wrapped protectively around his young friend.

"Hinata, come here."

Gaara's arms tightened around her. He was not going to let her go. The Hokage continued to smile softly. "Well, hello there, young man." Shuffling leisurely to the moving sand, he held out a hand. "My name is Sarutobi, I am the Hokage of this village, and who might you be?"

The sand responded to the boy's unconscious drop in defense. Keeping one arm around his friend, he shook the offered hand. The old man didn't look like he was going to attack and he _did _help Yashamaru-jisan, so he couldn't be a bad person. "I-I'm S-Sabaku no G-Gaara. I-I'm from S-Suna."

"Well Gaara, thank you for protecting our little Hinata-chan here. You're such a brave little boy." The third Hokage felt the two men move closer.

"Hokage-sama, it is late. I would like to take Hinata home, her mother is worried." The Hyuuga clan leader made to retrieve his daughter.

The little boy began to worry. "Demo, Yashamaru," Oblivious to his uncle's discrete but frantic attempts to shush him, the 4-year-old troublemaker continued. "I thought I could take my present home with me…"

Hiashi's Byakugan activated again as he glare balefully at the sweat dropping blonde man.

"Calm down Hyuuga-san. I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for all this." Assured that the Hyuuga would not try to attack Suna's representative, he turned back to the little boy. "Gaara, what made you think that Hinata was your present?"

"A-ano, Yashamaru-jisan said that my present would have a purple ribbon... and Hinata has one on her back." However, Gaara was no longer confident about this. _'I guess Hinata's not my present after all…'_

Seeing the boy's crestfallen face, the third Hokage lightly held his shoulder. "I see…However, I think your real present is that teddy bear your uncle dropped in the fight there." Retrieving the fallen toy, the Professor dusted it off before handing it over. "Here's your real present."

Pale green eyes look from the unappealing toy to the girl in his arms. "A-ano, can I have Hinata instead?"

The third Hokage couldn't help shake his head with laughter, and Yashamaru couldn't keep from silently chuckling at the little boy's obvious choice. Even the stone-faced Hyuuga nearly cracked a smile. "Iie, iie, Gaara, gomen, Hinata needs to stay here in Konoha. You may visit whenever you want though."

It didn't seem to lift the young boy's spirit however. Sarutobi knelt down to the child's eye-level. "Gaara, Hinata is already your present, just like you were hers."

The third's eyes crinkled merrily at the little boy's confusion. "Of all the presents in the world, the bonds of friendship are the most valuable. Even when you two are separated, and someday grow apart, the bonds created between you two today will always be there." Seeing the boy start to relent, he continued soothingly. "Hinata will be here when you return and then the two of you can play together again. You see, the bonds are in here."

Gaara looked at his chest. "Yes, they are in your heart. As long as your hearts never forget one another, the bond will never break."

Hinata gave her friend a little squeeze, "Don't worry Gaara; we can play again when you come back."

Accepting defeat, he reluctantly released his hold on her. "Ah, wait; I have something for you Hinata!" Reaching into his pocket, he revealed the flower hair ornament of compressed sand and presented it to her. An idea struck him at that moment. With the help of a sharp thin strand of sand, he sliced the ornament in half lengthwise. Unfortunately, being a child, he was not able to make a completely straight line.

Surprised, third Hokage pondered on the symbolism of the error. _'Interesting…the flower is split in the yin-yang style…interesting indeed…'_

Shyly, Gaara held out one of the pieces. "Here, Hinata."

"Doomo arigatoo, Gaara." Blushing, she quickly pecked him on the cheek causing him to turn red as well.

Wanting to leave before something else happened, Yashamaru quickly made his farewells. "Hokage-sama, sumimasen. We are extremely grateful for your assistance. Hiashi-sama, we apologize for the misunderstanding and hope that the good relations between the two villages will prosper in spite of this." He then held out his hand. "Gaara, it's time to go home."

"Hai Yashamaru" Giving his friend one last hug, the young child took his uncle's hand and walked away. Twisting his body back, he waved good-bye. "Sayonara Hinata! I'll come back I promise!"

In her father's arms, Hinata continued to wave farewell to her friend long after he vanished over the horizon.

* * *

10 years later…. 

Hanabi sat on her neechan's futon, rifling through an old book of pressed flowers. "Hinata-neechan, I don't remember seeing this flower before."

Zipping up her lavender jacket, Hinata looked at the page her imouto indicated. It was one she had not seen in a long time. "Ano, that one's found in the flower patch in the park." Smiling, she stroked one of the dried petals. "You can't find it easily because it's normally hidden by the taller flowers."

-

_What's that? _

..._Oh…f-flow'rs_

-

"Kazekage-sama, Temari-san, Kankuro-san, welcome back to Konoha" Kotetsu and Izumo bowed respectfully before leading the Suna-siblings through the village gates.

-

_My name's Gaara! Sabaku no Gaara! What's yours?_

_- _

Her sharp eyes noticed something caught in between the bindings of the book. Careful not to rip the pages out, she tried to unwedge the object. "Neesan, there's something stuck here!"

Hinata paused in her packing and joined her sister. "It's a hair clip…but it looks like it's broken in half…"

The two sisters, flipped through the pages carefully, searching for the missing piece.

-

_H-Hinata, I-I'm H-Hyuuga Hinata.  
_

_ -_

Temari looked at her youngest brother worriedly. They were due to meet the Hokage in about an hour and her brother was currently spacing off. "Gaara? Daijoubu? What's on your mind?"

"Nothing." The young Kazekage was confused. He had this strange feeling that there was something important he had forgotten and needed to remember. Was it someone's birthday? Gaara felt an arm being slung across his shoulders.

"Don't worry Gaara, with Temari and me here, what could go wrong?"

Smiling at his brother's carefree expression, he decided to focus on the upcoming meeting instead.

-

_Come on, let's play!_

-_  
_

"Hinata-chaaaan!!! Hayaku, we're going to be late! Shino's already here!"

"Gomenasai Kiba-kun, I'll be there in a minute." Quickly shoving a spare set of kunai into her bag, Hinata quickly hugged her sister good-bye. "Ah, we can look for the other half when I get back."

Hinata gazed mesmerized at the delicate sand clip. There was something about it…something important that she had forgotten…. Another shout from her team broke through her reverie and she carefully placed the hairclip into her treasure box. Hanabi stood and handed over the pack. "Be safe neechan."

Giving her sister another hug, the older sister waved farewell to her younger sister and quickly ran out the door before her teammate began yelling again. "Ja ne Hanabi!"

-

_-a young girl's gasp- __Suuugoiii!_

_-_

Hearing a bark, the middle Suna sibling looked ahead to see his friend strolling towards them.

"Oh hey Gaara, look! There's Kiba and his team." Gaara watched his older brother ran over to the Inuzuka and his teammate.

The two other siblings had no choice but to follow their impulsive sibling or risk losing him. "Konnichiwa."

Overjoyed to see his puppet-wielding friend, Kiba stopped. "Oi, Kankuro! What are you doing here?"

"Just a meeting with Tsunade-sama."

A small cloud of buzzing kikaichu landed on the Inuzuka. "Sumimasen, but we're kind of late for our mission, and I think Shino's getting impatient. I'll talk to you later!"

-

_Sayonara Hinata! I'll come back I promise!_

-_  
_

"Alright!" Kankuro happily waved good-bye to his friend. "Ja Kiba-kun, Hinata-chan!"

Seeing his friend disappear around the corner, the puppet-nin returned to his siblings. "Gaara? Daijoubu desu ka?"

The little brother had the most curious expression on his face.

There was that sensation again. Gaara made another attempt to remember. Nothing. Not wanting to worry his brother and sister, he determinedly pushed the feeling to the back of his head. "Daijoubu. I'm fine, it's nothing."

…

_Even when our lives drift apart, and the flowers wilt away…_

_Even when our minds are hazy, and our memories begin to fade…_

_Even when new bonds are made and new loves are found…_

_Even when we pass one another,_

_no longer remembering, no longer smiling, no longer acknowledging…_

_The bonds of friendship will still be there,_

_In our hearts, if not in our minds._

_August 11, 2007_


End file.
